North Korea's rocket launch met with international condemnation

Japan and South Korea express their anger North Korea's rocket launch and urge
the UN Security Council to take action against the isolated country.

8:30AM GMT 12 Dec 2012

The rocket was launched by North Korea just before 10am Korea time (01000 GMT), according to defence officials in South Koreaand Japan,and easily surpassed a failed April launch that flew for less than two minutes.

The state is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under UN resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programmes put into place by his deceased father Kim Jong-il.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the launch was "extremely regrettable" and that they would look to work with other countries to deal with the situation.

After Wednesday's launch, which saw the second stage of the rocket splash down in seas off the Philippines as planned, Japan's UN envoy called for a Security Council meeting.

However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely to be agreed at the body as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.

While Japan had deployed Aegis cruisers and PAC3 missile interceptor missiles to the southern islands of Okinawa, which the rocket overflew, Defence Minister Satoshi Morimoto said Japan did not take any action as it passed througn its airspace.

The rocket was detected by US missile-warning systems, and officials at the North American Aerospace Defense Command said it deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit around the Earth.